Bye-Bye Baby Girl

We had to put our sweet puppy Ivy down on Saturday night. Things had just sort of spiraled downward VERY quickly in the past few weeks. She had lost over 20lbs and a number of other things. She was at a friend's house (who had two other labs) on Friday and Saturday to see if we couldn't perk her up a bit, and when we picked her up we could tell that things had gotten A LOT worse even in the 48 hours we hadn't seen her. She was glad to see us, but is SOO much pain she couldn't get comfortable. It was heartbreaking, but we are glad she isn't in any more pain.

She wasn't even 2 years old. As much as she annoyed us, we loved her and it is still hard to think about life without her. We will miss not having to ever vacuum the kitchen floor, and not having anyone to lick the peanut butter knife or greet us in the morning, and it is hard to think that Ben won't even remember her. She will be greatly missed.

Where Would You Be If You Were:

• 100 Yards from a razor wire fence


• Down-wind from a dumpster


• Sitting in the sun


• Under power lines


• Without picnic tables


• AND surrounded only by the coordinators of this delightful little gathering?

Give up???

No, not prison. You would be at our Church Neighborhood Care Group Picnic!!

Never would have guessed?? Well, sometimes despite A LOT of planning, calling, emailing and mailing you can pick a park you THOUGHT was the the right one, and pick a date that worked when you started, and manage to find the one park in the area without a flat area, picnic tables or shade.

It is really not as bad as it sounds. We had a wonderful time with friends, the weather was PERFECT... 65 and sunny, and eventually a few more people did show up. AND I got to eat some AMAZING potato salad, chocolate cake, apple cider and a few other things I didn't make... does life get any better?

Like His Daddy

Eating Greens in a Special Treat

It Grows LOONG Ears and Great Big Feet

But It Sure Is An Awful Thing to Eat!

New Tricks

We can't get enough of this little man!

The wave

The nose

The stairs

P.S. No babies were harmed in the making of this video. :) This was his first time ever on the stairs, I just found him half way up. The next time he made it all the way to the top without any problems. Yikes!

Taming the Snot Monster

The title says it all. That is what I have been up to ALL week. Benjamin came down with a nasty cold a little over a week ago so I have been wiping a snotty nose, holding a crabby baby, desperately trying not to get it myself and watching my house go to pot for the last 8 days.

Thankfully he is on the upswing, and seems to be feeling much better the last couple of days. He is back to his old -cupboard opening, book chewing, stair climbing, dirt eating self and we love it!

L

Baby, Baby

70's Baby

Avacado Baby


Messy Baby


Active Baby

Our other Baby... all prim & proper after she got a bath and her nails trimmed.

In My Humble Opinion: ROBES

Well, it has been a while since I announced it but it is finally here... please let me know your opinion as well! Humble or not!! :)

Item: Robes a.k.a. Bath Robes

Description: The can be silky or towel material, but just the thing that you find hanging up at expensive hotels for you to wear (I have seen this in movies, although I have never experienced it, Super 8 doesn't have them).

Pros: They can be warm and fuzzy or they can cover up things you don't want people to see...

Cons: They can be bulky... and let's face it... sometimes hideously ugly.

Thoughts: In a nutshell, anyone that has time for a piece of clothing BETWEEN pajamas and getting dressed has too much time on their hands. If you are a millionaire who doesn't work (or are married to one) go ahead, knock yourself out... but for those of us normal folk, who has time for a robe??? I know I don't. I am lucky to get out of my pajamas in the morning and if I do manage a shower I don't have time to put a robe on THEN change AGAIN into my clothes! It is more like "Oh man, I hope Ben isn't getting into anything, I have 3 minutes before I need to be out of here... I have so much to get done and I need to get Ben ready, so I guess I won't be doing my hair, and I will skip the make-up, but at least I will be clean!"

Bumpersticker of the Day

BACON IS A VEGETABLE

Happenings

Hello dear readers. Life has been a little crazy in the Zetterholm household. And it doesn't seem to be slowing down! I feel like we are stuck in hyper drive and here's why:

• Benjamin is REALLY on the move. He is into EVERYTHING in the blink of an eye. In two minutes he will crawl in the fireplace, eat dirt from the plant, lick dog hair off the floor, dig in the garbage can & smile up at your in a way that makes your heart melt. As you can see in the picture above he also loves to climb under the bar stools.
• And it has officially begun... we have been using the "N" word... multiple times a day. He sort of responds... well he looks at you, smiles his beautiful baby smile, and keeps on digging in the trash can. :) So we flicked him today... and STILL nothing. He just kept smiling at me... sigh... I guess I should have expected nothing less since he is his father's son. :-P
• My business has been keeping me quite busy. Tomorrow I am working 11 hours at the fair... with Ben. Pray for me if you think about it. :) I am working 3 other days this week, one of them the same 11 hour shift!
• A CAR!! After much searching (and by that I mean checking Craig's List every 4 minutes) we have found a car... and not on Craig's List... someone was selling one in our church. It is a complete answer to prayer... 1. Cheap 2. Good gas mileage 3. Fits a HUGE dog 4. No major problems... now just pray that we both learn to drive stick.. AHH!!
• School... it seems to be a four letter word some days. School is in full swing for Andrew. Weekly papers, presentations, 100 lbs of books and weekly 2-day trips to Charlotte.
• Work... as some of you know, Andrew got a job a few weeks ago... for which we are SOO thankful... however it has been a sort of roller coaster ride. We are learning that our security is in Christ alone, not a job, a house or any other thing. A few days after Andrew started his boss had a mental break down and was admitted to a mental health facility. It was surreal. He is back now, but still has good days and bad days. The company is a small residential construction company and so from the beginning it has been up and down as to whether or not Andrew will have a job the next week. Yesterday it was looking like two more weeks, today it is looking much better... maybe 8 or more months... but tomorrow may be back again, we just never know.
• Finally, our poor Ivy - in the last week she developed this huge tumor looking thing on her neck, and she was not eating... she wouldn't do anything but sleep. I cried a few too many times thinking it was cancer or some horrible thing. (I never ever thought I would cry over a dog). At the vet yesterday (another bill we can't afford) they tested it and found out it wasn't cancer, but they don't know what it is, so they gave her some meds and sent us on our way. So please pray that Ivy will get better!

So there you have it. :)